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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28193070">Ayoko Nang Pumara</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjdsjmlyx/pseuds/cjdsjmlyx'>cjdsjmlyx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, English but there are some Filipino words, Filipino Superstition, HQFiloWeek2020, It gets pretty dark, Jeepney Love Story by Yeng Constantino, LITERALLY, M/M, Manila Encounters vibes, Self-Indulgent, Supernatural Elements, Superstition, Tobio is bisexual, Weird Dynamics, but sort of happy ending, but with a twist wink wink, hence the rating, kinda creepy, minor language</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:27:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,584</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28193070</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjdsjmlyx/pseuds/cjdsjmlyx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Yeng Constantino's "Jeepney Love Story" almost perfectly depicts Kageyama Tobio's life. </p><p>Almost.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, mentions of tsukkiyama</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>HQ Filo Week Fic Collection</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ayoko Nang Pumara</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>SUMAKAY AKO SA JEEPNEY </em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>IKAW ANG NAKATABI</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘DI MAKAPANIWALA</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>It’s already 9 in the evening and Kageyama Tobio is too tired for this.</p><p>His last class ended almost two hours ago but he got held up because apparently he’s the “perfect senior to show the freshmen around the campus” (seriously, he doesn’t understand it as well since he’s the shittiest when it comes to dealing with new people); and now he’s been waiting for more than an hour for a jeepney that’s not too cramped that he can feel a day’s worth of stickiness from a complete stranger. To add to his already needle-thin temper, almost all his professors decided that the first day of classes is the perfect day to dump activities that deserve the title “projects” more.</p><p>At least, now that most of the students have already gone home, there would be less traffic and less competition for the jeepneys. However, as is the situation for more than one hour now, jeepneys are scarce. Tobio thought that maybe it was because he waited right in front of the university gates where every students waited as well, and so he decided from thirty minutes ago that maybe it’s wise to walk a few steps away every five minutes.</p><p>Now, he’s standing underneath a huge Mahogany tree, some of its branches covering the streetlight next to it. There are no other students waiting for a jeepney there, and it’s a good spot enough for commuters such as him, but he’s not an idiot. Manila is an extremely dangerous place. He still has to stand under the light of the streetlamp and keep his arms locked around the backpack strapped to his front.</p><p>When another five minutes had gone by, he sighs before starting to walk forward once again. But before he had gotten the chance to drag his feet numbed from standing for too long, a harsh light saved him from his crisis, almost blinding him but he thanks the heavens for it. Relief washes over him when he reads the placard in front that states his destination. He has to stop himself from frantically waving his arm for the jeepney driver to notice him and let him in.</p><p>There are only a few people inside: a couple who’s too cuddly it makes him gag, three girls who he assumes are students from the same university judging from the ID lace they are all sporting, an old lady who’s already fast asleep, and a man who looks kind of suspicious but maybe is actually harmless.</p><p><em>Thank fuck, I can finally go home,</em> Tobio mutters under his breath, sitting at the end part of the jeepney near the entrance. The driver starts the vehicle as soon as he sits down, fetching the coins that have already warmed up from sitting for far too long inside the pockets of his pants, the change exact so he wouldn’t bother the other passengers and the driver.</p><p>“Bayad po,” he says politely, reaching his fare towards the suspicious man a few feet away from him. The man reaches out to take it and passes it to the driver, the sound of the coins satisfying for Tobio.</p><p>As expected, the travel goes smoothly. Tobio relaxes on the faux leather seat, watching mindlessly as the scenery from the window in front of him flashes mixtures of the orange lights of the streetlamps, the few lit houses, and the occasional darkness of the trees. It almost lulls him to sleep but he has to stay awake if he doesn’t want to go over his stop.</p><p>This mission is impossible, Tobio knows that, what with the fatigue from a 10 am to 7 pm schedule and his previous frustrations. However, the opportunity to fight off the sleepiness comes to him when the jeepney stops by the <em>palengke </em>with most stores already closed for the day, an old man with two heavy-looking <em>bayongs</em> struggling to lift it up. </p><p>Tobio stands up to help the old man haul the two <em>bayongs </em>inside, pushing it further near the driver so it would not block any other passengers. As he sits back, the driver was already starting to drive forwards once again, but not before a boy (man? man-boy?) that looks to be around his age gets inside and sits beside him.</p><p>Tobio would normally have no interest whatsoever towards the man who should just be like any other passenger, except for the fact that he’s absolutely gorgeous. His black tee and black pants match ridiculously well with his even more ridiculous messy orange hair. The color looks weird, but somehow the man pulls it off nicely, and he seems to glow under the jeepney’s artificial lights. His skin is tanned, arms snug against the sleeves of his shirt, chest wide enough for him not to look too lanky. His stature is on the smaller side, Tobio notices, but he holds an air around him that tells people not to look down on him. </p><p><em>Putangina, ang gwapo,</em> Tobio’s brain unhelpfully concludes even though he’s only seen half of his face, and he forces himself to look away. He stares back instead at the scenery that was a good distraction before and still is now, but this time he’s using it as a distraction for an entirely different reason. <em>Control the gay, Tobio. Pagod lang ‘yan, </em>he scolds himself, knowing full well that the last statement is a bit weak to convince himself not to seek the stranger’s eyes that he thinks holds even more mystery to the man.</p><p>Embarrassment thrums in his entire being as he sits awkwardly beside the man like there’s a stick up his ass. Tobio’s thoughts are bombarded with “<em>ang awkward</em>”, “<em>ang bango, shuta”, </em>and “<em>bakit ba ako naiilang, parang tanga”</em>.</p><p>Fortunately—unfortunately for Tobio, if he’s going to be honest—his gay panicking is not loud enough for the stranger to notice him. Instead, his lips are upturned in a muted grin, and his focus seems to be locked on one of the girls who uncharacteristically goes quiet while her friends continue with the chatter. Tobio feels disappointed, even though he knows he shouldn’t be. It’s his own idiocy to develop a crush for someone on the ride home.</p><p>His mind drifts instead to the mountain of workload that’s waiting for him at home, ensuring he does not get the appropriate amount of sleep because college is shitty like that. He prays that his roommate Kei left enough food for him, although that’s not really part of his worries since Tadashi, Kei’s boyfriend, always makes sure that there’s enough for the both of them. What an angel, really. Tobio wonders sometimes how Tadashi fell for his jerk of a boyfriend, bu then Tobio would remember how Tadashi is secretly a bully sometimes as well. </p><p>The jeepney stops along with his thoughts when the girl who was locking eyes with his jeepney crush (yes, he decides to call him that from now on) says “para po.” It would not have been weird; he gives zero fucks at where other passengers stop like a normal person. What is strange, however, is how her other friends look at her in pure confusion and slight alarm. </p><p>He hears one of them say, “uy, be, layo pa ng bahay mo dito.” But the other simply looks at the dark mass of trees before them with nonchalance and says, “maybe she has other business pa. Basta alam ni tita ‘yan, ha.”</p><p>The girl in question ignores them both. She walks out of the vehicle, and Tobio really should not be too invested in this, but his eyebrows disappear below his dark bangs when his jeepney crush goes after her, standing stiffly behind the jeepney as the driver starts the drive once again. Even under the faint light provided by the full moon, the slight upturn of the stranger’s mouth is still visible, especially to Tobio whose attention is completely captured.</p><p>He nods to himself in understanding. <em>Ah, kaya pala nagtititigan. Magkakilala naman pala sila.</em> Tobio nearly slaps himself for feeling envious towards the girl who knows the stranger. It’s frustrating how he didn’t even manage to get his name.</p><p>Around 3 in the morning, when he’s finally done with his assignments and he’s ready to succumb to sleep, the tiny interaction is already out of his train of thoughts. It’s just a chance encounter, after all, and the time he would spend thinking about it is a luxury he could not afford. </p><p>It’s a few weeks after that the chance encounter presents itself again. </p><p>---</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>PARANG MAY HIWAGANG NADAMA</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>NANG TUMAMA SA’YO</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>ANG AKING MGA MATA</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Marupok si Tobio. He knows that more than anyone else. He falls in love too easily, and hurts just as easily. It’s almost a routine for him, a disgustingly vicious cycle where he hopes for his love to be reciprocated in the end. </p><p>That’s exactly why he keeps sitting at the end part of the jeepney, looking up at every passenger who would come in, hoping that his chance encounter with his jeepney crush would miraculously happen again. Sometimes when his brain is empty, it would revert back to that bright orange hair and that mysterious smirk. Even while staring at the whiteboard with too much writing, pretending that the 3-hour lecture is not melting his brain, he swears he could smell that scent that faintly reminds him of their provincial home, familiar and nostalgic. He often finds himself snapping his head to check if the person who’s sporting the all-black get-up is the same person he’s shamefully been infatuated for six weeks now. And what’s even mortifying is how he unconsciously compares his jeepney crush to his other crushes—his 7/11 crush who mans the store near their dorms, his <em>kapitbahay</em> crush from their province who he only liked because of the arms that flexed with every <em>igib</em>, his volleyball club crush who was so out of his league anyways, his classroom crush who’s voice is as sweet as her personality, his <em>kainuman</em> crush who was also a friend of Tadashi, the list goes on—and how each of his past crushes could not even come near the high standards that his jeepney crush has set for him. </p><p>Nonetheless, they’re all just crushes anyways. He has far too many things he should be spending his time about. He may be dumb in high school, and maybe he still is a little bit in college, but at least he puts on more effort in his studies. Everytime the image (or even the thought) of his jeepney crush flashes in his mind, he’s quick to whisk it away. It doesn’t bother him too much, but it’s too frequent that it’s getting annoying, like a fly that just won’t go away. He does not go to measures just to make an opportunity for himself. His personal motto goes like, “let fate run on itself.” If he’s meant to meet that orange-headed guy again, then good for him. If not, he’ll just pray that the images of the guy won’t pester him as much in the future. </p><p>And so, on another night when he’s forced to stay until 8:30 pm because of club activities, he tries to force the excitement of a higher chance of meeting his crush again. He walks towards the same spot where he waited for a jeepney to arrive, convincing himself (poorly) that this has nothing to do with <em>that</em>. Sure, it’s still frustrating how he has to stand for 30 minutes waiting for a jeepney, but the excitement rules once again when one finally arrives.</p><p>But this is almost at full capacity, making him pout. He could wait for another jeepney to come, but there is the possibility of him waiting for another half-hour or more. Tobio decides that’s even more infuriating than the fact that his jeepney crush could not sit beside him. He’s not even sure if the guy would actually ride a jeepney this late at night; last time might just be a one-time thing. </p><p>He sighs, sitting at the end as usual, then fetches his fare and the earphones he borrowed from Kei so he wouldn’t accidentally fall asleep. There is still a few <em>dangkal </em>of space between him and the lady beside him, something he’s thankful about. However, just before he reaches out his fare, his eyes catches on the dark outfit of a man in front of him. His heart stops for a beat, and then another when he realizes that <em>it’s him! It’s really him! I don’t know what good deed I have ever done in my past life, but I’m glad I did because I finally see him again!</em> </p><p>With his heart on his throat, he schools his expression he’s sure is a hundred shades of amused and excited and <em>shy</em> now. Clearing his throat, Tobio says rather calmly, “bayad po,” thanking the heavens once again for the zero amounts of trembling in his hands and in his voice.</p><p>Tobio exhales slowly, now realizing the tight hold he has on the poor earphones. Kei <em>could</em> kill him if he comes home with the borrowed gadget destroyed, but he pays it no mind as it acts as a good distraction for him not to stare at the man in front of him. He sneaks a glance up, noting how his clothes are the same as it was a few weeks ago. </p><p>Now that he’s more discreet in his observance, he notices how there are only a few creases on the guy’s shirt. <em>A neat guy, huh, </em>Tobio comments to himself, biting his lip to stop the smile from forming, and failing. His legs are spread a little, and the tight hug of his pants around thick thighs makes him swallow. Ignoring the heat at the pit of his stomach, he dares himself to look up more, and he nearly regrets that decision when he finds hazel eyes staring back at him, making him forget to breathe for a few moments. Key word is “nearly”, because those are the prettiest set of eyes he’s ever laid eyes upon. It’s innocent and sweet, but something about it feels predatory, like the sweetest poison he’s ever drank, but would not hesitate to drink again just to taste it once more. Tobio stares for a few moments (or was it a few decades? He’s not sure anymore) before the man tilts his head to the left a little. <em>Curious</em>, he must have thought, squinting his eyes at the way Tobio lowers his gaze towards the forming smirk from the lips that looked too full for his own good, <em>too tempting</em>. </p><p>He forces himself to look away for the second time that night, careful not to delve too much on too sinful thoughts, swallowing nothing but it still felt like honey-thick in his throat. He decides to use the earphones in the end, but the pounding of his heart is even louder than the deep bass of whatever music his phone has on shuffle. He’s too distracted to care. </p><p>For a few minutes, this worked. Soon, he’s humming along the tune, accustomed to the slight pain from straining his neck to look out the entrance of the jeepney just so he could avoid that hazel gaze. He can occasionally feel eyes on him, but maybe that was just his imagination. He <em>hopes</em> it’s just his imagination, because although he’s been longing for the man’s attention to be on him for quite a while now, he realizes that it’s too much for his poor heart. Time goes like that, until he notices that there are only a few passengers remaining inside the vehicle. </p><p>Tobio looks around, unconsciously assessing the others. Only five of them are left now, which was understandable considering the time. Behind the driver are two men, both engrossed at some mobile games, shouting words incomprehensible for Tobio. Across them is another man who looks like a total stranger from everyone, but judging from the phone hanging limply from his hands that are perched above his knees, it appears that he’s part of them as well.</p><p>Lowering the volume of his phone, he observes the third man. At first glance, it looks like he’s staring outside the jeepney, but when Tobio follows his gaze, he surprises himself to find that the man is looking at his jeepney crush, and, <em>double surprise</em>, the other is looking at the man as well. Tobio feels the same thing he weeks ago, the sense of envy from having a wordless conversation from such a beautiful man.</p><p>Scrunching his nose, he picks at his phone again to increase the volume. <em>Whatever,</em> he thinks, hoping that his eye-roll was something he did mentally as well. After a few moments, the jeepney stops. Tobio looks outside and his eyes widen a fraction upon the realization that it’s the exact same spot where his jeepney crush stopped along with a random girl before. Although how the mass of trees was familiar to him is unknown.</p><p>He didn’t hear the “para po,” but he lowers his phone’s volume enough to hear the obnoxious shouts of the other two men. “Hoy, gago, s’an punta mo?” “‘Pre, may weird inuman session ba diyan?”</p><p>The two men laugh at the last retort, but like the girl before, the man says nothing as he disembarks, the orange-haired guy following after him. Tobio makes sure not to look like he’s watching them carefully, (but he surely is), and he frowns at how the two men a few feet beside him continue with their game, seemingly forgetting about their friend. </p><p>He looks outside because something compels him to do so, and an unpleasantly satisfying shiver runs down his entire being to find that the orange-haired guy is looking at him, smirk now a full-on grin, and eyes even more predatory than it was before. </p><p>---</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>SABI NILA’Y WALANG HIWAGA</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>KUNG WALA’Y ANO ITONG NADARAMA?</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>A few days passed since that last incident and the dread and excitement still sits at Tobio’s gut, eating him inside out like a parasite he’s willingly letting take advantage of his system. Every night, he would wait for a jeepney at 9 pm, sitting at the end near the entrance. Every night, he would hope to see the guy again, and every night, he would come home pleased that he’s successful with it.</p><p>Tobio admits that he’s now obsessed. He looks forward to every end of the classes, but not for the same reason as everyone has. It’s the travel he’s looking forward to, the nightly encounter he has with the stranger-but-not-really who always sits in front of him, making him feel things he’s never felt before.</p><p>Or perhaps he has felt it, but does not dare to call it anything else but <em>magic. Hiwaga. </em></p><p>He must be going crazy. That’s the only explanation he has for this routine of finding things to do before 9 pm. Kei, no matter how much of a jerk he is, is starting to become concerned of the way his roommate arrives late and wakes up looking like he barely has enough time to sleep. </p><p>
  <em>Tobio is obsessed, and he is starting to look like it.</em>
</p><p>He would often smile at things that are remotely close to orange, more often than not staring at people who wears black in his university. He always had the reputation of unapproachable, but now, people are starting to add “creepy” to associate with that. Tobio doesn’t give a shit, of course, even going as far as suggesting to his campus crushes to “dye their hair orange”, “wear more black clothes”, and “to gouge their eyes out because it’s never as pretty as the hazel ones he’s seen from that guy”.</p><p>He hasn’t come to the point of forgetting his studies, not yet, but the professors are whispering to each other at the faculty rooms about that weird guy from that class who would draw random jeepneys and what looks like trees on the notes and assignments he hands in. </p><p>People could call it whatever they want to, but for Tobio, it’s happiness. </p><p>All his life, he’s never felt thrill like this. He’s never anticipated meeting another person. He’s never made any moves to create an opportunity for him to accomplish whatever it is he wants to. And this escape from the usual dull cycle is what he claims his happiness. He smiles more often now, and he cares about something more than himself. That, for him, is what makes him a better person than before. </p><p>Riding on this thought, Tobio suddenly had an urge to strike a conversation. He’s already 20, for fuck’s sake, and he can initiate a conversation like any other person. </p><p>This plan is perfect for today, when the guy sits beside him. They were the only passengers, the lady that orange-head was with earlier when they embarked the vehicle already gone. Tobio exhales, trying to calm his nerves. </p><p>“Hi,” he greets, screaming at himself to look at the stranger he’s talking to and not at the way he’s fidgeting with his fingers. </p><p>When he does look up, the stranger has the look of surprise. Tobio must have looked like he’s curious as to why this was, because the other answered with, “Hi. Sorry, I’m not used to the other person talking first.”</p><p>Tobio finds it strange since he’s never heard the other talking before, but he sweeps it under the rug because <em>goddamn, he has a nice voice. Is everything about this person so nice?</em></p><p>Except, of course, he must have said it out loud since the stranger is laughing, a melodious rhythm of breath that Tobio finds astonishing. <em>Yeah, everything about him is nice.</em></p><p>The guy reaches out a hand. “Hinata. Hinata Shouyou,” he introduces himself. It takes a moment for Tobio to answer back when he grabs his hand in greeting (<em>ang lambot ng kamay, putangina</em>). “Kageyama Tobio,” he replies.</p><p>“So, lagi ka talagang ganitong oras umuuwi?” Shouyou asks.</p><p>Surprisingly, Tobio doesn’t find it in himself to lie or to hide the truth. “Yeah, I want to see you.”</p><p>Shouyou raises one of his perfectly arched eyebrow, smirk returning to his lips. </p><p>“Well, aren’t you a cute thing,” he says, tilting his head up to examine Tobio’s face. Tobio is so entranced that he flinches a little when Shouyou brushes a ghost of his finger above his eyes, moving the few strands of his bangs to the side so slightly it could pass off as nothing.</p><p>Shouyou smiles, his eyes looking like they could devour Tobio whole, and the scariest thing is that <em>he would let him.</em> </p><p>“Do you know me, Tobio?” he whispers, leaning into Tobio’s space. This close, the dark-haired man could smell more of Shouyou, the scent of dirt and summer rain and dried leaves even stronger now. </p><p>Before answering the question Tobio is sure should be rhetorical, he inhales more, printing Shouyou’s scent deeper inside him. </p><p><em>Obsession is Tobio’s beast, and now Shouyou’s feeding the beast even more.</em> </p><p>But Tobio is not stupid. Of course he knows Shouyou.<em> He knows of Shouyou,</em> heard of a million and one variations of stories about his kind.</p><p>Tobio says as much. “I know of you.”</p><p>Shouyou hums, leaning even more impossibly closer to him. “And you’re not scared?”</p><p>Without hesitation, Tobio replies. “No, I’m not scared.” He’s never said something so truthfully his entire life, and Shouyou’s wide grin is telling him that he knows this too.</p><p>From the corner of his eyes, he can see the driver looking at him through the rearview mirror. Tobio snickers, thinking about how the driver must have been getting scared because his passenger <em>is talking to himself.</em> Shouyou giggles as well, almost childish, and if put in a different context, they could look like two high school kids laughing about a shared joke. </p><p>But that is a story for a different time, and in this context, Tobio feels something more than friendly for a being not entirely the same as his.</p><p>Tobio looks outside, the scenery now familiar. He understands now why it feels so, since this, he decides, starting from this day, is going to be his home. He’s sure of it now, decision already set on stone ever since a few weeks ago, but he still needs Shouyou’s answer. He needs Shouyou to accept him.</p><p>As a question, Tobio glances back at him. “Would you accept me?” <em>in your home? In your life? </em>he asks—proposes?—voice quiet, as if afraid of scaring Shouyou away. <em>As if it’s Shouyou who would be scared away. </em></p><p>Shouyou is still looking at him, has been for a few minutes now, but his expression shifts into something foreign to Tobio. He doesn’t want to jump to conclusions, but if his habit of observing people has brought him something, it’s that he’s sure that Shoyou’s expression is something akin to fondness. </p><p>And no one from the present time knows yet, but soon, the magic and fondness would be mutual, would develop into something humans called “love”.</p><p>“Who am I to deny you?” Shouyou whispers back. He looks outside, their destination arriving. He looks back up at Tobio, grabbing his warm hand. It fits perfectly in his.</p><p>Tobio smiles. Not the ones he sends his campus crushes, nor his professors who talk too much about him, nor those who call him names. He smiles a smile exclusive only for Shouyou. He raps twice above his head and says, “Manong, para po!”</p><p>The driver enthusiastically stops the jeepney, but the pity in his eyes was more evident. Tobio pays it no mind, as he always does. </p><p>Grabbing Tobio’s hand, Shouyou is the first one to go down, dragging the human inside the dark mass of trees that would become their very own sanctuary.</p><p>---</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>AYOKO NANG PUMARA KAHIT SA’N MAPUNTA</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>AYOKO NANG PUMARA KUNG IKAW ANG KASAMA</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>AYOKO NANG PUMARA KAHIT SA’N PA LUMIKO</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>AYOKO NANG PUMARA SANA ‘DI NA HUMINTO</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>AYOKO NANG PUMARA</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>AYOKO NA KUNG IKAW ANG KASAMA</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>For as long as people can remember, women and men alike are warned of travelling at night. Modern times had made the reasons for this different, because surely, getting mugged is scarier than a getting metaphorically cursed by a creature without any factual basis of existing.</p><p>But the elderly knows all about it. Those gifted with the power to <em>see</em> knows all about it. The students of a certain university in Manila knows all about it. The jeepney drivers going to a certain destination knows all about it. Even more so, the trees know all about it.</p><p>The Mahogany tree near said university is the living proof of this knowledge, its trunk decorated with a lot of white papers posted with a large “MISSING PERSON” at the top of each. They are all from different areas and all from different timelines. But the latest one from five years ago was of a senior student, whose hair is as dark as the night and eyes as blue as the ocean. The people claim him to be missing, but those who has the knowledge knows that he’s right where he’s meant to be. They didn’t question it, never will, for they are thankful that the trees have stopped taking lives after him. </p><p>There are a million and one stories like Kageyama Tobio’s of whose life changed because of a certain jeepney drive, but his is the most twisted one.</p>
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